Nokia Rebrands Health Monitors, Updates App Interface

Though in the tech sphere Nokia’s name has always maintained its potency, the general public may mainly associate it with bar phones and Snake. Their understanding of the company may be obliterated as a new suite of ultra-smart connected health devices hit the market with its moniker.

Nokia acquired Withings for €170 million over one year ago, and announced this year that it would be rebranding all of its products with the Nokia badge. The subsidiary, its name a portmanteau of “wireless things,” established its reputation with a strong array of health-related connected devices.

Starting with the Activité smartwatch, Withings later culled a collection of incredibly capable Wi-Fi scales that went beyond mere weight to deliver detailed health metrics like body water percentage, muscle mass, and heart rate. Watches, thermometers, and such scales all synced under the Health Mate app.

Now, the products and the app will carry the name once associated with ultra-simple, ultra-reliable cell phones. In their effort to rediscover ubiquity in the connected health market, Nokia rebranded much of the Withings lineup. A newer, cheaper incarnation of the Body scale launches at $59.95, while the original Withings Body becomes the “Body+,” and a revamped blood pressure monitor will accompany the lineup. The devices and the app combine to form an “ecosystem” that Nokia hopes will provide “a 360-degree view of their well-being.”

The Health Mate app will still connect with older Withings-branded devices, but itself received an interface makeover. The app incorporates new programs for tracking sleep, pregnancy, and heart health, and intends to focus more on “coaching” users.

Nokia Chief Medical Officer, Matthew Diamond, MD, PhD, places weighty expectations on a line of Wi-Fi scales: "To face the global health crisis of chronic diseases related to lifestyle and behavior, we need powerful and engaging tools and solutions," a press release quotes him, "Nokia is committed to shifting the focus from treatment to prevention.”